Decision to detain WikiLeaks' Assange stands

The Svea Court of Appeals has decided that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should still be detained, it said in a statement on Wednesday.

The decision comes after Assange appealed the District Court's move to have him detained "on probable cause suspected of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion," according to a statement from the Prosecution Authority.

This means that there is still a European and an international arrest warrant out on Assange, the Prosecution Authority said.

The decision to detain Assange came in response to a request from Swedish prosecutor Marianne Ny. She wants Assange to be interrogated, and investigators have not been able to meet with him. Therefore, Ny had to ask the District Court to detain him, she said.

However, there is some good news for Assange. Even though the Court of Appeals sided with the District Court on the need to detain Assange, it downgraded the seriousness of the rape charge.

Assange's Swedish lawyer Björn Hurtig will now appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, he told news agency TT. Assange has denied any wrongdoing.

The prosecution is keeping a tight lid on the case due to the ongoing nature of the investigation. It has declined to disclose information concerning the case or how the investigation has been conducted.

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